We've got a list of words we can't say on the radio, and a whole slew more we won't say, even though we can. On today's show, John McWhorter, Columbia University linguistics professor, host of the Lexicon Valley podcast at Slate and the author of Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever (Avery, 2021), joins to discuss his new book on profanity, where swear words come from and why they hold so much power.